Standing on the day just after the 74^th Independence Day, there are a host of reasons in context of Covid-19 pandemic to feel deeply concerned, even if there are a few encouraging news also. According to the Union Health Ministry data released on Sunday which is also the same as shared by the WHO,  for  last 12 days, in India there has been a daily surge in caseloads  which is currently the highest in the world.  With over 63,000 new  infections in last 24 hours which takes the tally to 25.89 lakh cases, the country is the third worst-affected by the pandemic after the US and Brazil. But, it is particularly at this point tensions are bound to rise. Fear has marked the journey in fighting the pandemic from the beginning, but, at this juncture it seems the countdown has started for further worse, which is, the way the graph is heading northwards, it could very well be a scenario when the country might top the global chart. The only count of hope is the recovery figures which currently stands at about 18.62 lakh and the rate at 71.91 per cent on Sunday morning which is a slight improvement as compared to Saturday’s 71.6 per cent. This is a very queer juncture as it is being progressively observed that a slight tincture of hope is getting overlapped by the rising additions and deaths, thus keeping the whole of the nation on tenterhooks.

While, it is technically correct to point out that the quantum of consternation cannot be taken to be as the representation of the pan-national picture since only 10 states have thus far remained the steady and major contributors, it is undeniable that things are also not that safe in other regions including the Northeast. The most affected state in the region is Assam as its tally has surpassed 75,000 and counting, although it appeared initially that it’s not that much distressing. Arunachal although apparently and comparatively seems to be in a manageable position, it is far from what can be called ‘safe’. This is since, it has been beyond the realm of the medical science to predict either a definite calming down or surge over an approaching period of time. In the state, out of the 2658 positive cases recorded as on Saturday, 1771 have been fully cured and it is all left with 882 active cases to fight it out. If the fact that currently all 122854 samples collected have received test results is a cause of confidence in Covid fightback, the most important task at hand will be to take all the remaining 882 active cases to the path of recovery. Simultaneously, the tempo of testing should be kept high uninterruptedly for the coming months.

In fighting corona, it’s going to be a snake and ladder game. Sticking to the objective of becoming a ‘zero-case state’ must be the paramount objective for Arunachal, whether it’s with or without a vaccine.